BENGALURU: As many as five chief ministers have come and gone in Karnataka in the past ten years. The state also witnessed a change of chief ministers eight times in that many years, with BS Yediyurappa serving in the post three times since 2011. Except Siddaramaiah, none of them completed five years, while Jagadish Shettar served as CM for just 304 days.
Of the six CMs, three were from the Lingayat community and were from the BJP, two from Vokkaliga (BJP and JDS) and one from the Kuruba community (Congress).Interestingly, of all the six CMs, two were from North Karnataka, including newly elected Basavaraj Bommai, and at both times, the BJP was in power. Yediyurappa, who became chief minister in 2008, served till 2011 before resigning. DV Sadananda Gowda and Jagadish Shettar were chief ministers between 2011 and 2013. After the Congress came to power in 2013, Siddaramiah became chief minister and completed his five-year term.
In 2018, after the Assembly polls, Yediyurappa took oath for the third time, but resigned after he failed to prove a majority. Then the JDS-Congress coalition government, headed by HD Kumaraswamy, was formed. In 2019, Yediyurappa took oath as CM and formed the government with the help of Congress and JDS rebels who joined the BJP.
After serving as CM for two years, Yediyurappa resigned on Monday. The BJP has now chosen 61-year-old Basavaraj Bommai as Chief Minister of Karnataka. He will take oath on Wednesday, becoming the sixth chief minister in the last ten years.
IN THE HOT SEAT
BS Yediyurappa (Shikaripura)
DV Sadananda Gowda (MLC )
Jagadish Shettar
(Hubballi-Dharwad Central)
Siddaramaiah (Varuna in Mysuru)
HD Kumaraswamy (Channapatna in Ramanagara)
Basavaraj Bommai (Shiggavi)